Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Big Kid Bedroom

When we moved B out of nursery when he was 2.5 years old to make way for N, we had to leave his bedroom very basic. No toys because he'd play with them when it was bedtime and we preferred he play downstairs in the living room where we could keep a close watch on him while also getting other household stuff done. One time he wandered off upstairs with a crayon and coloured on his bedroom wall. Maybe he wanted to personalize it. We also found that books couldn't stay within reach in his bedroom either or they'd get wrecked. When he got angry and had a tantrum he'd knock stuff over or throw toys so the walls were never safe either. He'd also use furniture in his bedroom to climb - up to the window or up in his closet. So until about now (age 5), B has had very little in his bedroom aside from a bed. I'm so happy that my school aged kid is finally past this phase though we're just entering the same phase with N. His room is an absolute disaster but more on that next month when we move him out of the nursery.

For B's room we didn't have a big budget to work with (since we have 3 rooms to do!) so we just wanted to personalize it a bit and add some furniture.

Where his bed was before in the corner by the door, we added a solid wood desk and chair. When we were searching for a desk, this one stood out. A few years ago we bought a solid wood desk from Craigslist for our office which we love so much. The desk we found for B's room (Kijiji find) is essentially a mini version of our beloved office desk. It is a good size for him and he can use it all the way through school. It also offered a place to display some photos and his baseball trophy that were in his closet. Above the desk is his Blue Jays poster which he wanted to keep on his wall despite the fact that it has been taken down many a times and played with so isn't in the best condition. The Children's Solar System poster on the other wall was a gift from my brother. Since B has been particularly hard on his stuff it had once been up in his bedroom but had been tucked away in the closet for awhile until he could take better care of his stuff. Now that he has his desk, he spends a lot of time there colouring and cutting and pasting. Aside from colouring materials, the drawers also hold his library books so we keep them separate from his other books and all of his Nintendo DS stuff.

The painting in the frame on the left was something my dad bought from an art gallery on the East Coast. It is a painting of a boy on a unicorn overlooking the ocean. He bought the painting because the boy reminded him of my brother. This painting hung in my parents house until my mom redecorated just before B was born. When B was born, she offered the painting to us for his bedroom so it has special significance. We chose the colour of the walls for his bedroom to match when we moved into this house. The solid wood double bed frame was also a Kijiji find. We already had a double mattress and box spring in our office which was sitting on the ground and used on occasion as a guest bed. Of the two boys, B was the better fit for the double bed. N will have his old bunk bed in his new bedroom. We had to pick bedding to go with the colour of paint we had on the walls already so the sports themed bedding was perfect. It is actually reversible. The other side is just plain stripes and the sheets are navy. The set also came with a hockey bear which B absolutely loves. We hung his medals from soccer and baseball at the foot of the bed.

Finally, the coffee table in the corner was in his bedroom before (an extra piece of furniture my sister had) but we cleaned off the top of it a bit. The table holds his books in the white basket and his Lego in the containers along with the mats. We do let him keep the Lego in his bedroom as the pieces are small and you kind of need to see to play with it. Sometimes he'll spend an hour or so playing with it while N naps or while dinner is getting ready.

There are still a few more little thing's I'd like to do like put up a cork board for his artwork behind the door and find suitable window coverings. We've managed to go through two sets of blinds in his room with him bending them to look out and cutting them with scissors as an experiment. I'm thinking we might have to go with the faux wood blinds which are a bit more expensive but more durable than the plastic or aluminum and more energy efficient.